TYSON SMITH

Tyson grew up on the east coast of the South Island near Cheviot (cultural capital of New Zealand).  Initially starting out on homemade polystyrene guitars and miming along with "Money For Nothing" and "Beat It" for unsuspecting family friends, he began learning on the real thing at age 9. It wasn't long before he was regularly making the 100km journey to Christchurch for lessons (thanks to his mum!) as well as performing duets with his sister, flautist Tamara Smith. ​Tyson relocated to Christchurch for his final high school years and to attend the CPIT Jazz School, continuing to immerse himself in the local music scene. For some of this time he lived with a Peruvian family, learning Spanish and also playing guitar in their uncle's salsa band. In 2003, after performing around Christchurch in various ensembles ranging from pseudo-flamenco duos to 8-piece funks bands, he decided it would be a good idea to invest in a cheap Tuxedo and fly to New Orleans. Over the next 3 years he could be found performing in cruise ship showbands afloat the Caribbean or Mediterranean, or soaking up influences in Central America, Cuba and the USA. During a few months in New York, Tyson took lessons from some of the city's top guitarists (including John Abercrombie, Mike Stern, Ben Monder and Wayne Krantz) and funded nightly pilgrimages through the snowy streets to various music venues by busking in the subway. After relocating to Wellington in 2006, Tyson began working on recording and performing his own original music as well performing with a range of other acts. He toured extensively both locally and internationally with singer Hollie Smith and also played for various productions in both Theatre and TV.  In 2009 Tyson produced his first album documenting original compositions from the previous several years. In late 2014 he released his second album "The Hollow Tree".  He has also produced an album for his sister's group Mundi (with whom he used to regularly perform) and has an album with The Electrons coming soon, as well as other solo recordings.  He performs regularly around a variety of New Zealand festivals including Splore, Shipwrecked and Relish.  As well as teaching music locally, Tyson has also done two guest residencies at Musicmatters school in Sri Lanka.  Contact Tyson at tyson@tysonsmith.co.nz for all gig and lesson enquiries.